As expected, the Arizona Wildcats defeated the Washington St. Cougars. The ‘Cats generally outperformed the Cougs in every phase of the game. That is not the story. Just about everyone picked the Wildcats to win this one. Nobody, however, saw the injury to Foles coming.

As soon as he went down, it seemed wrong. As he lay on the turf, grabbing at his knee, this Arizona fan’s gut was churning with worry. I felt the season slipping away before my very eyes. As Matt Scott warmed up, I remembered all of the overthrown passes. All of the poor decision-making. The lack of faith in his receiving corps. I wondered, how could Scott possibly lead the Wildcats through the juggernaut that is the second half of their season? Arguably the four toughest tests of the season remain. Games against USC, @ Oregon, @ Stanford, and the ‘dual in the desert’.

For his part, Scott seemed to be more than ready. Gone was the run-first QB that spent too little time looking for receiving options. Scott largely stood tall in the pocket and allowed the receivers the necessary time to get open. Did he make mental mistakes? Absolutely. But thankfully, he was afforded the opportunity to learn from them and recover. Thank goodness this situation didn’t come about against Iowa or Cal. Indeed, Scott was largely successful tonight, completing 13 of 18 passes and throwing for 138 yds.

Scott did alleviate some worry about how he would perform against Washington. There is still concern, and rightfully so. But for the moment, I’ll put the most positive spin on this possible. That is that Arizona is lucky to have a QB like Matt Scott as a backup. Not some green freshman or sophomore that has never started, but the former heir apparent to Willie Tuitama. Also remember, Wildcat faithful, that while the Arizona offensive coordinators will have to adjust their play-calling and game plan, so too will the Washington defensive staff. They have precious little information to formulate a game plan that will be effective against Scott.

I freely admit, I was calling for Scott to be moved to WR at the beginning of the season. I pray he makes me eat my words.

ESPN stats and recap of the game.